Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award 2014With this volume; Davis presents the age of emancipation as a model for reform and as probably the greatest landmark of willed moral progress in human history. Bringing to a close his staggeringly ambitious; prizewinning trilogy on slavery in Western culture Davis offers original and penetrating insights into what slavery and emancipation meant to Americans. He explores how the Haitian Revolution respectively terrified and inspired white and black Americans; hovering over the antislavery debates like a bloodstained ghost. He offers a surprising analysis of the complex and misunderstood significance the project to move freed slaves back to Africa. He vividly portrays the dehumanizing impact of slavery; as well as the generally unrecognized importance of freed slaves to abolition. Most of all; Davis presents the age of emancipation as a model for reform and as probably the greatest landmark of willed moral progress in human history.
#22960 in Books Vintage Books 2012-09-18 2012-09-18Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x 1.40 x 6.10l; 2.02 #File Name: 0307280500704 pagesVintage Books
Review
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A monumental workBy SascotIf you are a learned scholar; able to analyse the past in all it's minute detail; then I suspect you are going to pull this book apart; whether from a social; cultural; religious or historical stand point. The detail is incredible. Whether the author's motivations for writing this were from a privileged family connection (as claimed by other commentators) is irrelevant because what he has done is given us ordinary people - of which I am one - access to the confusing; bewildering; tortured background to this city that has riven asunder the peoples of not just the region but the world. Whether you are Christian or Jew or Muslim; whether an Iraqi; Palestinian; Syrian; Roman; Turk; Egyptian; French; German; Brit or any other shape; size or hue of humanity; Jerusalem has pulled and continues to entice those in search of religious comfort and salvation. God in all his glory; whatever cloak he wears stands on its walls beckoning anyone and everyone to control the uncontrollable.This book enables one to place the present ebb and flow of mayhem and slaughter over Jerusalem into context and for that I am extremely grateful to the author. Whether ALL and every detail is true is really irrelevant. I am not interested in whether the Jesus; who was crucified on the cross; in a huff really did tip over the tables of the money lenders but the vision of this grumpy Messiah doing so did make me smile. What is fact is that the religions; tribes; sects and nationalities that all want a slice of Jerusalem will continue to be denied their wishes whilst one of them holds control. How it happened that the Jews finally have Israel and control of Jerusalem is simply part of the city's history. It's their turn but those denied control are grumpy; as they have been for millennia. This book enables one to wonder at why anyone could possibly think (the arrogance of ex British PM Tony Blair comes to mind here) that they could ever mediate all parties with an interest in the city to produce everlasting peace. But what comes out of its pages is the clear fact that man; in search of eternal salvation of his soul; will not hesitate to inflict immeasurable harm on others to achieve his aims. Stand in his way at your peril. This very readable book allowed me a much deeper understanding of the turmoil that is that part of the world and especially allows one to place the atrocities of the current unrest in Syria into context. Disgruntled parties have been lobbing stones at each other - and worse; much worse - for thousands of years; Jerusalem; bombed; bruised and besieged as the ultimate prize. And so it continues.I would have given it five stars but for one fact that I found the amount of detail in names utterly bewildering and in many places; impossible to follow. But this is a learned book; the author to be congratulated on such a monumental work.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Excellent; with some small quibblesBy Joe FarquestGripping read. A must-have for lovers of history.On the downside; the author appears to make some errors (or seems to rely on faulty sources) for some religious details on all sides; and labours under the misapprehension that modern religious leaders believe that everything was sunshine and roses back in their religion's heydey.Nonetheless; an excellent resource.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Amazing feat of putting facts togetherBy Bruce C.Amazing feat of putting facts together; still interesting how it unfolds like a thousand lifetimes; despite so many facts. There was many tribes conquering each other and they left a trail of killed; enslaved; tortured; ruined cities; and taxation. Every time the Jerusalemites regained control of the city; they built or rebuilt the sacred temple that had godly presence and gold; then a conquering army would destroy it and take the gold. Author says the history from 1500bc forward is from bible or related divine books some Jewish; there was no other recorded history; the information before then was from tabets; Iraqi It's an amazing book; not a story about the Jews and the Palistnians; not hardly; and most of the many groups; Persians; Babalonians; Cainanites; Syrians; etc. Most countries held religion of Babel; a belief in many gods most of which were angry and had to be appeased or you suffer consequences. The Romans conquered Juerusalem approaching year one (have to check my scribbled pages to know); and they didn't become Christian till many years after Jesus.
